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Photos Exhibit

Corrections – The all too often missing link in the rule of law chain

A UN Corrections Officer from Nigeria working in the Juba prison in Southern Sudan, through talks with Government officials and UNICEF, was able to create a juvenile reform centre where more than 70 children are enrolled, 2010. UN Photo/Tim Mckulka An UNMIS Corrections Officer from Zimbabwe works to re-build offices and a records storage facility in the Juba Central Prison in Southern Sudan, 2010. UN Photo/Tim McKulka A UN police officer discusses the situation in a detention center run by the local police in Nasser, Upper Nile State, Sudan, 2010. UN Photo/Paul Banks UN Police work to identify prisons and detention centers that need to be rehabilitated, such as these detention facilities at the Police Headquarters in Nasser, Sudan, and to find donors that can support this process, 2010. UN Photo/Paul Banks United Nations corrections officers visiting the women’s prison in Pétionville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 2010. UN Photo/Karin Freudenthal The UN and the Timorese authorities collaborated in the development of a Correctional Strategic Plan that includes the introduction of prisoner work, rehabilitation and education programs with a focus on juveniles, women, and the mentally ill, 2009. UN Photo/Martine Perret Deputy Special Representative of the SG, Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, and UN corrections officers participate in a graduation ceremony for Liberian prison guards, trained by UNMIL, 2009. UN Photo A UN human rights officer serving with the former UN Mission in Chad and the Central African Republic (MINURCAT) provides training for prisons officers in eastern Chad, 2007. UN Photo/ MINURCAT A room with two beds accommodates dozens of prisoners at Haiti’s Central Prison. Overcrowded and filthy prisons are the norm in many poor countries, especially those emerging from conflict, 2011. UN Photo/ Logan Abassi To alleviate overcrowding and the accompanying poor hygiene and security risks, the United Nations works with donor countries to increase the size of the facilities, 2011. UN Photo/ Logan Abassi The reconstruction of the Ndolo military prison Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with funding from The Netherlands was a priority of the corrections office of the MONUSCO, 2010. UN Photo Forensic experts from the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste investigate a crime scene inside of a local prison using modern technology, 2009. UN Photo/Martine Perret Two UN corrections officers talk to their Liberian counterpart at the newly completed Sanniquellie Corrections Center in Sanniquellie, north-east Liberia, built with funds from UNMIL and the UN Peacebuilding Fund, 2010. UN Photo/Staton Winter The Special Representative of he Secretary-General for Liberia, Ellen Margrethe Loej, talks with a Liberian corrections officer while visiting a detention facility, 2011. UN Photo/ Staton Winter The President of the Republic of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and the Deputy Special Representative of the SG, Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, open the Sanniquellie central prison, 2010. UN Photo/ UNMIL United Nations corrections officers and Sudanese officials talk to female inmates in the women's section of the Torit prison in Southern Sudan, 2008. UN Photo
  • A UN Corrections Officer from Nigeria working in the Juba prison in Southern Sudan, through talks with Government officials and UNICEF, was able to create a juvenile reform centre where more than 70 children are enrolled, 2010. UN Photo/Tim Mckulka
  • An UNMIS Corrections Officer from Zimbabwe works to re-build offices and a records storage facility in the Juba Central Prison in Southern Sudan, 2010. UN Photo/Tim McKulka
  • A UN police officer discusses the situation in a detention center run by the local police in Nasser, Upper Nile State, Sudan, 2010. UN Photo/Paul Banks
  • UN Police work to identify prisons and detention centers that need to be rehabilitated, such as these detention facilities at the Police Headquarters in Nasser, Sudan, and to find donors that can support this process, 2010. UN Photo/Paul Banks
  • United Nations corrections officers visiting the women’s prison in Pétionville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 2010. UN Photo/Karin Freudenthal
  • The UN and the Timorese authorities collaborated in the development of a Correctional Strategic Plan that includes the introduction of prisoner work, rehabilitation and education programs with a focus on juveniles, women, and the mentally ill, 2009. UN Photo/Martine Perret
  • Deputy Special Representative of the SG, Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, and UN corrections officers participate in a graduation ceremony for Liberian prison guards, trained by UNMIL, 2009. UN Photo
  • A UN human rights officer serving with the former UN Mission in Chad and the Central African Republic (MINURCAT) provides training for prisons officers in eastern Chad, 2007. UN Photo/ MINURCAT
  • A room with two beds accommodates dozens of prisoners at Haiti’s Central Prison. Overcrowded and filthy prisons are the norm in many poor countries, especially those emerging from conflict, 2011. UN Photo/ Logan Abassi
  • To alleviate overcrowding and the accompanying poor hygiene and security risks, the United Nations works with donor countries to increase the size of the facilities, 2011. UN Photo/ Logan Abassi
  • The reconstruction of the Ndolo military prison Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with funding from The Netherlands was a priority of the corrections office of the MONUSCO, 2010. UN Photo
  • Forensic experts from the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste investigate a crime scene inside of a local prison using modern technology, 2009. UN Photo/Martine Perret
  • Two UN corrections officers talk to their Liberian counterpart at the newly completed Sanniquellie Corrections Center in Sanniquellie, north-east Liberia, built with funds from UNMIL and the UN Peacebuilding Fund, 2010. UN Photo/Staton Winter
  • The Special Representative of he Secretary-General for Liberia, Ellen Margrethe Loej, talks with a Liberian corrections officer while visiting a detention facility, 2011. UN Photo/ Staton Winter
  • The President of the Republic of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and the Deputy Special Representative of the SG, Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, open the Sanniquellie central prison, 2010. UN Photo/ UNMIL
  • United Nations corrections officers and Sudanese officials talk to female inmates in the women's section of the Torit prison in Southern Sudan, 2008. UN Photo

“People deprived of their liberty are often overlooked, disregarded, forgotten or denied their right – enshrined in Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.  Many systems of justice entail punishment by imprisonment, but there are standards that this punishment must meet.  Women and girls cannot be locked up with men.  Children must be given their own facility and have access to education.  And in most cases, rehabilitation should be among the goals,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. 

The day-to-day work of UN Corrections officers in peacekeeping operations around the world is to ensure that those rights are protected and to work with host governments to build up their capacity to uphold at least minimum standards of incarceration.  This includes ensuring that prisons are not overcrowded, and that detainees and inmates have access to sanitation, food and medical care. Efforts are also made to enhance rehabilitation programmes so that people who have served their time can become productive, law-abiding citizens.

By protecting the rights of prisoners and helping to ensure that justice is served, UN peacekeeping operations promote faith in a country’s legal system and the long-term stability it fosters.